Cinderella Story - Lake Vermillion Intimate Wedding :: Hali + Brian

How I met “my own” Aaron Rodgers 😉 Well, for the record, as he’s for sure going to want me to clarify — Brian is a VIKINGS fan!! Haha!

When we first started dating most of my friends and family called him Aaron or A Rodg in conversations with me. If I ever mentioned “Brian”, I’d get a bunch of blank stares back till I could clarify “Aaron” - then they’d catch on who I was talking about. We couldn’t go anywhere without getting stopped on the streets, people yelling out “Hey! You’re on my Fantasy team” or “You look JUST like Aaron Rodgers!”. Brian would get embarrassed by all the attention, but I got a kick out of all of the "discount double-check” jokes at Christmas (especially with my Uncle owning his own State Farm office!!)

When we met I wasn’t looking for love, wasn’t really interested in dating. I NEVER thought I’d get married or fall in love. And then things happened. I knew right away he was the one. We didn’t intentionally rush things, it was just our pace - a year in we got engaged, we bought a house together 2 months later, and 4 months after that we were married. It’s been a whirlwind, but I wouldn’t change a thing!

The Cinderella Story — As told by the Bride (Hali), confirmed by Uncle (Chris Toutloff): When I was about 4 years old, back in April of 1993 (best guess), my Uncle Chris (who is also my Godfather) wanted to take me on a little Godfather/Goddaughter date. Seeking out what would be a fun experience for a little girl, he decided to take me to the Cinderella play at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. My mom dressed me up in princess attire - the dress, tiara, wand, and plastic "glass” slippers - the whole works, and dropped me off at my Uncle’s. We went to the Theater and were seated on the upper level, front and center on the balcony. Apparently they were GREAT seats. Chris said about half-way through the show I started to get restless and realized that I had lost my “glass” shoe. I had been dangling my feet over the balcony (really lady-like) and it must have slipped off. We searched everywhere - upstairs, downstairs, even involved the theater usher to help us find it, and eventually I started to get upset and sad about losing my princess shoe. Chris could tell he was losing me needed to save the situation quick! Luckily he had always been quick on his feet and known for his storytelling… He told me the Cinderella story that I half-missed pre-occupied by the loss of the shoe. He said I might have lost my shoe, but just like Cinderella someday Prince Charming would bring it to me and sweep me off my feet. He said my jaw dropped and I got suuuuppper excited that I could be like Cinderella! And just like that I was fine and said “OK, let’s go!!” He carried me to the car (since I was shoeless) and Prince Charming is all I could talk about the entire drive home. Since then, throughout my childhood, this story would come up - I would still ask if he thought Prince Charming was really coming. It's always been a fun and fond memory of mine with my Uncle Chris.

The story was just a fond childhood memory, and I had no idea that my Uncle and Brian had a little something planned for the Reception. When Chris asked if he could speak at the Dinner, I didn’t think much of it. After all, he was also our Officiant (and did a fantastic job, I might add!!!) The day before the wedding I wrote him a card, thanking him for officiating our wedding, and as I wrote, I thought to myself “How funny that here we are and HE is the one to marry me to my Prince Charming”. When he started speaking at Reception, and brought up the Cinderella story from my childhood, I thought to myself “Awwwww, I was just thinking about this memory!” but when Brian pulled out the silk pillow with the real-size glass slipper on it, I NEVER saw it coming! Seriously amazing! I was so floored!! It was perfect! And, be it just like my Uncle to end the story with publicly thanking Brian for taking all the pressure off him” as Price Charming. So priceless. These two are the best!!!

Getting married at our Family property on Lake Vermillion - As told by the Bride: Wedding planning is not one of my fortes. This was not something I was excited about. Neither was Brian. We considered a tropical getaway, whisking away and tying the knot somewhere warm. There was only one problem with that plan. Neither of us is very ”tropical” in nature. We are much more of the “woodsy, outdoors, northwoods” type, especially given our fond memories of a certain fishing trip to Canada, which is where we really fell in love. The more we got into planning of our tropical destination wedding, the less excited we were about it, also realizing how many dear-to-us people wouldn’t be able to make it due to the logistics. That was that! We started looking into a wedding in Minnesota. It was a windy road of looking into various venues that lead us right back… home. We had no attachment to any of the beautiful and intimate places we were looking at, and it wasn’t till we considered getting married in the family property backyard that things just clicked into place. Lake Vermillion, this place, has meant so much to me, coming here all of my childhood. And after Brian entered the picture, coming on several family trips, talking about cabin plans with my dad, this place started meaning a lot to Brian as well.

Once we came up with the idea to have the wedding at a place we called home, among the pine trees that would be here for years to come as we live our life together, nothing else compared. We kept things small, inviting and involving only the closest family and friends - with my Uncle as Officiant, Brian’s sister singing, etc. Despite the time crunch and the wedding now being more of the DIY variety, the 6 month planning process went surprisingly well. We totally lucked out with all of our vendors - snagged ourselves an uber talented Photographer ;), a super fun DJ, and with Tower being a small community all the local vendors (decor, floral, reception venue, etc.) knowing each other well, they were all amazing to work with! Fun fact: my decorator (Kim Ollila) from Bridal Family Decorating, was a God-send!!! Within an hour of our first meeting I started calling her my “Fairy Godmother”. Little ironic looking back at the whole glass-slipper Reception surprise!

The most special moment of the Ceremony - The Bald Eagle - This day was truly amazing, and so special to us. Getting married where we did, all the people that helped, keeping things small and intimate, it made for the most amazing day. Still, with as awesome as this day was, one thing gives me goose-bumps and makes me tear up. It’s the Bald Eagle. It was perched on one of the trees near the lake while I was saying my vows to Brian. See, I grew up on Lake Vermillion pretty much. Most of my dad’s side had cabins up here, both sets of grandparents did. My Grandpa “Gordy” Debe (dad’s stepdad) passed away about 13 years ago, and ever since then whenever we see a Bald Eagle on the lake we say “look it’s Grandpa!”. It’s just kind of our symbol for him and a way to still remember and feel connected to him. So when one of our family members told me that they saw the Bald Eagle that day of our Ceremony, I couldn’t help but get happy tears knowing my Gramps made it to my big day as well.

The DYI Projects:

The Prep, The Property - I owe the biggest kudos to my dad (Dave) and my step mom (Michelle) for opening up their property and hosting the Ceremony. The worked their tails off prepping the land, building the arches, cutting logs, setting up the decor the morning of the wedding. Just everything… They thought of things I wouldn’t have thought of, or ever asked for. I’ll mention a few examples. The land sloped towards the lake, and that wasn’t good enough for my dad, so he brought in an excavator and trucks full of sand to level it off so we had a flat surface for the guests to sit on. He brought in blue gravel so it would be firmer and easier for guests and myself to walk down the isle on. They spent hours cutting dead trees and brush that had fallen in a big storm the year before so the site was more tidy and nice to look at. My grandpa helped a lot with this, and even Brian’s dad made a trip out to help with the cleanup despite it being far out. My dad even had a telephone line, that ran across the top of the lot, removed because it interfered with the view. We are so lucky, they went above and beyond to make an already beautiful lot even more perfect for our big day. From the bottom of our hearts - Thank you!

The Arbor / Arch / Logs - I was really drawn to the rustic / romantic / whimsical theme, and had found a birch arbor idea on Pinterest that I fell in love with. My dad wasn’t satisfied with the design, so he improved it to make it more sturdy, and he and my step mom built the most beautiful arbor and arch to decorate the Ceremony. Thank goodness for this design forethought, because the original would have never withstood the crazy winds we had the day of!!!! The wood for the isle decor and the stand that Brian and I combined the sands on came from an already-fallen tree that my dad and Grandpa “Toots” spotted on the property. As the DYI projects commenced we jokingly called it “the wedding log”.

The Heart on the inside of Dad’s Jacket - I have always been 100% daddy’s girl and wanted him to have something close to his heart, knowing it would be an emotional day for both of us. I found a heart-shaped patch from 3starmillitarymom on etsy, that said “Daddy, I loved you first. Yesterday, today, always, and forever your little girl. Hali 06-10-17”. Now after the wedding my dad still has it on his visor in his truck so he can see it every day.

The Handkerchiefs - The Father of the Groom gifted a handkerchief to my dad (the one he was wiping his tears with during our first look) after going through his two daughters’ weddings he knew my dad would need it.

The Glass Shoe - www.disneystore.com - it was personalized with “Your Prince is here!” by my uncle Chris.

List of the amazing Vendors that made our day so special:

Reception - Fortune Bay Resort and Casino, Woodlands Ballroom

Chair Rentals - Rudy’s Event Rentals St. Paul MN

Photography - Ester Knowlen Photography (with Nicole on 2nd shooting)

Florist - Silver Lake Floral - Virginia MN

Makeup - myself (I was a nervous wreck attempting this one on my own!)